Some of the main characters are named after important people involved in the horror movie industry: Raimi - Sam Raimi, Savini - Tom Savini, Cmdr. Carpenter - John Carpenter. Among these listed, the Captain also includes of soldiers that they have lost which include Romero (George A. Romero) and King (Stephen King).
The character of Rev. Jones is most likely based on Reverend James Warren "Jim" Jones. Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple. This was a well known cult in the late 1970's and is best known for the November 18, 1978 death of more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the deaths of nine other people at a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown, Guyana. As the Congressman, news and television reporters, and temple defectors boarded the plane, several armed guards from the temple arrived and fired at the group. One of the fatalities was Congressman Ryan. The murder of Congressman Ryan was the only murder of a Congressman in the line of duty in the history of the United States. Simultaneously, temple members committed mass suicide by drinking cyanide-laced grape flavored Flavor Aid along with a sedative. Jones was found dead in a deck chair with a gunshot wound to his head. Because of Jones, the tragedy at Guyana ranks among the largest mass suicides in history. It also the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001.